Synchronicity Marketinghttp://synchronicitymarketing.com
Enlightened EmarketingSun, 14 Aug 2016 00:10:52 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.5.4Teaching the Email Marketer How to Fishhttp://synchronicitymarketing.com/teaching-the-email-marketer-how-to-fish/
http://synchronicitymarketing.com/teaching-the-email-marketer-how-to-fish/#respondWed, 10 Aug 2016 18:23:10 +0000http://synchronicitymarketing.com/?p=3709I'm honored to be in the company of email experts like Laura Atkins, David Daniels, Simms Jenkins, Chad White and more in this new piece of email marketing wisdom from Adobe Marketing Cloud on doing email marketing right.

I’m honored to be in the company of email experts like Laura Atkins, David Daniels, Simms Jenkins, Chad White and more in this new piece of email marketing wisdom from Adobe Marketing Cloud on doing email marketing right.

“‘Engagement’ means not just engaging with a single message at a single point in time, rather, successful engagement will happen continuously, repeatedly, across different types of messages (content vs. promotion) and throughout a subscriber’s relationship with a brand/sender.”

and

“There is still a discord between different pieces of the marketing stack – systems that don’t integrate, data that doesn’t flow from one system or environment to another, lack of APIs between software, etc. For really successful email marketing, we need a seamless flow of data, often generated by, coming from, or stored in other systems, which can empower more relevant campaigns.”

With endless approaches christened “best practices” and infinite blog posts on the latest email optimization tactics, it can be difficult to determine where it’s worth investing your email marketing money and manpower.

Questions like these abound:

Does my company need abandoned cart/browse campaigns if we’re not an ecommerce or retail marketer?

Are reactivation campaigns worth it, or should I just cull unresponsive subscribers from our list?

How much marketing automation do I need? Do I need an ESP or MA platform?

Do multi-touch campaigns (like a welcome series) outperform single message-campaigns? Is the extra effort to create a series worth it?

Would my company benefit from reputation management and delivery services? What’s it worth?

Does dynamic content really pay off?

. . . and the list goes on. It’s often said email marketers “live in the weeds” because email as a marketing channel involves far more nuances and decisions than other channels, as well as far more pitfalls and devilish details to beware of. Those in the trenches are consumed with the “necessary evils” of email – tactical specifics and technicalities – surely challenging enough. Add to that distracting questions from curious/less-informed co-workers or superiors and it’s easy to see how one can barely get the chance to come up for air in order to understand – let alone focus on – what truly moves the needle.

So let’s crawl out of the weeds to at least level ground and gain some altitude by way of a refresher on what’s really worth doing to get the biggest bang for your buck in this channel (regardless of your industry or business model). Here’s my take on five critical areas smart email marketers are investing in today:

1. Strategy

Strategy tops the list because too many companies are still lacking either a general marketing strategy, channel-specific strategies, or both. Your email marketing strategy should align with your overall marketing goals, but even if those aren’t well established, you can set channel-specific goals for what you’d like email to accomplish.

A Strategy IS: An outline of your goals, plans for how you will achieve them, and the specific tactics you’ll employ in doing so. It further details the actions you’ll take to execute those tactics.

A Strategy IS NOT: An email message calendar, mission statement, or campaign schedule. Those may be components of a strategy, or developed once you’ve determined strategy, but they fall far short of actually being a strategy.

Given the “in the weeds” nature of email marketing, it’s rare that email specialists have time to lift their heads long enough to think through – let alone actually create and deploy – an email marketing strategy. Managers and directors are often too removed from channel specifics or solely focused on developing broader marketing strategy to do the job. All the more reason it’s critical to make the commitment to strategy, even if that means doing so with the help of your agency or ESP, or outsourcing it as a consulting project (something I do a lot of).

2. List Growth, Maintenance and Integrity

If you’ve yet to hear that “the gold is in your list” allow me to introduce you to this long-held maxim from the days of direct mail. It’s no less applicable to email – in fact it’s even truer because of email marketing’s basis in permission (we all know how well those third party rented lists work, right?). All of which translates into the fact that:

a) Without investing in building a proprietary opt-in list you won’t have an email marketing program to worry about and

b) Proactively investing in continuous list growth is imperative to offsetting the natural and inevitable attrition and diminishing returns that come with an aging list.

Are you investing in new subscriber acquisition through a broad spectrum of channels (online and off?) You should be, as well as continuously monitoring and analyzing those sources by both quality and quantity.

The job doesn’t end with subscriber acquisition. Data can be flawed to begin with plus it ages over time, so treat every email address like a newly found golden nugget by also investing in email address verification, hygiene and correction services.

3. Creative

The palette of ways to invest in email message design, content, and customization is rich and worthy of exploration. At a minimum, it’s my personal recommendation that you have in-house vs. outsourced digital design and copy-writing expertise on hand. These folks should be adept at writing, designing and coding not only for the web, but the inbox too. A logical exception would be if you’re completely outsourcing the execution of your email marketing program to an agency; in that case they should have those resources and not be using subcontractors or freelancers.

I recently worked with a B2B client who hadn’t previously done much digital marketing. They’d outsourced development of their web site and had a fledgling email newsletter to a small list run from an entry-level ESP, but no one internally who could write or design email messages, landing pages or supporting content, nor anyone who could “own” digital. Outsourcing the creative and content development needed to expand their email efforts was a short-term solution, but will not be as viable or cost-effective an option for them in the long-run as hiring a full-time staff member who has ongoing ownership of the channel.

If you’re well beyond the basics of having the necessary talent on staff, it’s time to expand your investment in creative by looking at real-time content optimization services like Live Clicker, Power Inbox and Movable Inkas well as potentially stepping up from basic to responsive design as your new norm.

4. Marketing Automation

Next to strategy, if I had to pick an absolute “must” for getting the most from your email program it would be investing in marketing automation (MA). It’s no longer an aspirational “someday” for successful email marketers, it’s here and now; comprising a majority of their efforts in the channel. If your current ESP doesn’t support triggered, automated, timed, behaviorally-driven campaigns (or if it does but you’re not taking advantage of those capabilities) you’re about to be seriously left in the dust.

An investment in this area doesn’t have to mean investing in software billed specifically as a marketing automation (MA) platform. Most ESPs these days include at least some basic automation capabilities. However, investing in this area could mean:

Investing in a new vendor. It might be time to upgrade to a new ESP or MA provider with more robust capabilities than your current one.

Investing time in learning to use the marketing automation features of your current platform, or learning to use the more advanced ones.

Investing in triggered campaigns you haven’t implemented yet – like up-sell, cross-sell, NLP recos, abandonment, lead nurturing and even re-purchase/reactivation. All can be fertile ground for untapped revenue.

Investing in education and expertise to optimize the application of marketing automation in your platform, or learn what’s possible and how to do it.

Investing in manpower (hired or contracted) to concept, set-up and monitor automated campaigns (which can be much more time-consuming to get going than traditional “batch-and-blast” email)

Investing in technology. Perhaps an API to your CRM or eCommerce platform needs to be developed so you can use customer purchase or response history to power automated campaigns?

This is one of the most complex and resource-intensive investments in email you can make, but by some studies pays off 20-fold or more, making it well worth the growing pains.

5. Analytics

Last but never least is campaign and data analysis. After all, what good are your precious investments if you don’t measure their impact?

Knowing the value of an email address, either via measures such as revenue-per-email (RPE) or cost to acquire (CPA).

A dedicated individual or team responsible for tracking and benchmarking channel metrics, analyzing subscriber response and response trends, and accountable for turning data into insight and sharing that within the organization.

By now you might be thinking I’ve overlooked an obvious area of investment – people! So I’ll add Talent as a sixth bonus area. You’d be hard pressed to sink time and money into the five areas above without also investing in people. Whether that means adding to staff, beefing up talent via consultants and freelancers, or investing in the education of the team you already have, successful email marketing requires not only technology, but also brains and bodies! It thrives on dedicated channel ownership and oversight, and that’s not likely to happen well (or at all) with team members already spread too thin.

Do yourself a favor come budget-time this year: assess your investment level in the five critical areas above AND earmark dollars for the additional expertise you’ll need in the form of people to master investments in those areas. After all, it’s people who make the difference between a championship team and a losing season.

]]>http://synchronicitymarketing.com/getting-the-most-from-your-email-marketing-budget-5-critical-areas-to-invest-in/feed/2Using Machine Learning for Email Marketing Optimizationhttp://synchronicitymarketing.com/using-machine-learning-for-email-marketing-optimization/
http://synchronicitymarketing.com/using-machine-learning-for-email-marketing-optimization/#commentsFri, 13 May 2016 20:29:41 +0000http://synchronicitymarketing.com/?p=3695"Machine learning" has moved out of science fiction and into real-life applications, like powering Tesla cars that run on autopilot and robots that can beat humans at the Japanese game of Go. For marketers, it gets them closer to their email nirvana: true 1:1 personalization on a mass scale.

Time for a guest post this month from Kath Pay, fellow email marketing industry pro and panelist with me at the Email Innovations Summit hosted by Only Influencers. Read on as Kath shares her wisdom about how computer learning empowers email marketing innovation and response for optimal results.

Science Fiction or Reality?

“Machine learning” has moved out of science fiction and into real-life applications, like powering Tesla cars that run on autopilot and robots that can beat humans at the Japanese game of Go. For marketers, it gets them closer to their email nirvana: true 1:1 personalization on a mass scale.

Machine learning, at its simplest, is a method of data analysis that allows computers to learn – to analyze, predict and act – without explicit instructions or programming.

That last phrase – “without explicit instructions or programming” – highlights the difference between today’s rule-based marketing automation and systems that use machine learning.

Both machine learning and today’s marketing automation systems use algorithms to analyze data and set outcomes. However, even the most complex marketing automation programs rely on specific rules or conditions that users write for them. Those rules don’t change unless someone goes in to alter them.

Out in the real world, though, customer behavior is changing constantly. Also, no two customers are alike. Segmenting the database and targeting messaging help marketers address these differences, but the rules that govern those activities don’t recognize the subtle changes that build up over time into a mass movement.

Systems that use machine learning to analyze data can generate insights that constantly adjust and refine the content sent to different customers based on their different characteristics and behavior.

Instead of sending messages based on one point of past behavior, these systems continually take in data, analyze it and use those insights to personalize messaging without requiring marketers or their IT cohorts to keep tinkering under the hood to keep up with changes.

Machine learning in action

It’s all around you, but it usually works so seamlessly you don’t realize it’s there:

Netflix: Netflix’s recommendation engine analyzes data generated by three basic sources: your preferences (what you put on your list), your behavior (what you actually watch over time) and what other people are watching (“Trending Now”). Then it sifts through all that data gained by granular tagging of all scenes within the movies, to predict what you’ll want to watch and presents those predictions as viewing recommendations.

Twitter: Many social media listening tools use a combination of machine learning and linguistic rule creations to filter out nuggets of meaningful content from the fire hose of Tweets as they flash past, whether it’s to detect customer sentiment in general or to learn what they’re saying about you in particular.

Spam filtering: ISPs use a host of factors when deciding whether to route an email to the inbox, divert it to the junk folder or block it outright. User behavior such as clicking the “report spam” button, moving an email from the spam folder to the inbox and adding a sender’s name to an address book or safe-senders list helps increase filtering accuracy for each account.

Airbnb: The travel service uses a dynamic pricing model that helps site hosts figure out how much to charge. It incorporates neighborhood location, amenities, time of year, fluctuating demand and other data points to help hosts get the most reservations at the best prices.

Machine learning for email marketers

Your fellow email marketers have been putting machine learning to work in their own programs. Here are a few examples:

Subject line optimization: Machine learning and marketing automation come together to help marketers choose the best subject lines with less time lost in testing. Here are two ways email marketers can use this technology:

Touchstone uses a proprietary algorithm to predict likely open, click and bounce rates using a simulation of an actual email database and comparing results to billions of other tests – using real data to power the results. Phrasee‘s language analysis tool predicts which emotional triggers in subject lines will drive more responses. Both services use results to refine and improve predictions over time.

Delivery time optimization: Also called “send time optimization,” this service predicts and modifies email delivery times based on when recipients are most likely to see and open messages.

Newsletter creation:Alchemy Worx has developed a newsletter automation service that streamlines newsletter creation and delivers 1:1 personalized content using machine learning that continually optimizes content choice based on recipient actions.

Real-tme Content Optimization: Cordial uses machine learning and proprietary multi-armed bandit algorithms in coordination with real-time systems to rapidly find content which is most likely to drive a conversion for each individual subscriber. The system allows unlimited variants to be tested and self optimized while reducing lost conversions.

Take the next step toward ‘always on’ optimization

The advent of machine learning doesn’t mean you have to toss out all of your rules-based marketing automation. Instead, identify areas that would benefit from continuous optimization. That’s where automation based on machine learning will drive better results without a constant injection of staff time and money.

The best way to see how machine learning solves the twin problems of lack of resources for optimization and scalability for personalization is to talk with email industry people who are making it work for their brands, clients and customers.

Email strategists Jeanne Jennings and Samantha Iodice will join Kath and me as we explore the Myths and Realities of Starting Your Own Consultancy at the Email Innovations Summit. If you’re attending the event, don’t miss us on Wednesday May 18 at 1:30. Kath appears again on Thursday May 19 at 3:40 to moderate the panel on Machine Learning in Email.

Based in the UK, Kath lives and breathes email marketing. She is not only a world renowned speaker and trainer, but also Founder and CEO of consultancy Holistic Email Marketing. Many years ago she coined the phrase and not only practices a holistic approach within her business, but also teaches it to her students and clients.

]]>http://synchronicitymarketing.com/using-machine-learning-for-email-marketing-optimization/feed/3Planning Your 2016 Email Program? Here’s a Step-by-Step Process for Successhttp://synchronicitymarketing.com/planning-your-2016-email-program-heres-a-step-by-step-process-for-success/
http://synchronicitymarketing.com/planning-your-2016-email-program-heres-a-step-by-step-process-for-success/#respondMon, 07 Dec 2015 13:56:21 +0000http://synchronicitymarketing.com/?p=3649Building your email marketing calendar for the year layer by layer will alleviate the chaos and shot-gun approach too many programs fall victim to due to lack of planning, while identifying opportunities where messages can be added if necessary or new information can be communicated in existing campaigns. So the next time someone is screaming for you to “just send another email”, you’ll be able to point to your calendar and either accommodate them via an existing campaign, find available space, or push back from a strategic, rational place.

If yours is like the majority of companies reliant on email marketing to nurture leads, generate sales and grow revenue, you’re not sending fewer messages, you’re sending more. As programs become more sophisticated, they also become more complex, and that complexity bleeds over into both planning and scheduling. Which campaigns and messages deserve top priority? What’s more important – broadly targeted one-to-many foundational programs or automated, triggered 1:1 campaigns? What about the mix of promotion vs. content over an extended period? These questions and more are just the tip of the iceberg email marketers face when building their annual plans.

The answers aren’t always easy and are different for every industry and marketer, but there is a process for success (regardless of your message mix) when creating an annual email marketing calendar and associated plans.

First, imagine you’re building a pyramid (or for those of you who enjoy food metaphors, we can make this a wedding cake) from the bottom up. The bottom layer needs to support all the layers above it, and in email that bottom layer consists of your continuity programs and recurring customer communications. For many marketers, that means a newsletter or similar informational update/bulletin. Whether weekly, monthly or quarterly, these recurring touches normally comprise most of your “broadcast” email and reach your entire subscriber base, some of whom may not qualify for other types of messaging, but are at least receiving these.

Step 1: Starting with a blank calendar for 2016, your first step is to slot your continuity emails into it. Your company may have multiple newsletters; or quarterly newsletters and weekly digests, or even other types of digital publications delivered as email; regardless, schedule them all and identify the target audience for each.

Next, consider your promotional campaigns. For eCommerce marketers, those are the messages that make the cash register ring. Whether your company sells online or not, they directly or indirectly drive revenue and contribute to the bottom line, so they absolutely can’t be ignored.

Step 2: Layer your promotional email schedule into the calendar. If it is highly seasonal (B2C), make sure major holidays and key dates (tax day, summer and winter solstice, etc.) throughout the year are identified so you can plan accordingly. For example, in some years Thanksgiving falls almost a full five weeks before Christmas, in others more like four. The dates for Easter, Jewish holidays, and Ramadan are different every year. Take increased volume during the end-of-the-year holiday period into account in your planning.

Or, as is the case for many B2B marketers, consumer holidays may not be as meaningful as other dates, such as those of your own events, major industry conferences, fiscal year beginnings and endings, or service/ contract renewal periods. Especially if you host and promote events, identify those dates and the promotional windows for each on your calendar.

Third, incorporate any educational or content marketing campaigns or email series that might be in existence to support particular brands, products or lines of business. Some of these may be targeted to an entire audience segment (like lead nurturing programs are targeted to warm up prospects), while others might only deploy if a subscriber demonstrates a certain level of interest, signs up for them specifically, or engages with content or other features on your web site. Educational and content email is huge in B2B, but also a great supplement to the often-heavy promotional and broadcast messages in B2C marketing.

Step 3: Identify these types of programs and any fixed dates you plan to deploy them, and add them to the calendar.

Fourth, it’s time to consider special campaigns you know you’ll run every year but that don’t necessarily recur very often. For example, contests, sweepstakes, and refer-a-friend programs. Or surveys, feedback, ratings/review request campaigns. Maybe you’re planning a new brand or product launch? Engaging, interactive promotions and programs like games, prize awards, online forums/communities and contests are common in those scenarios, and email supports them.

Step 4: Add any known interactive “engager” campaigns to your calendar (by now it might be getting quite full) if they’re slated for specific periods, and identify any periods throughout the year during which you think you might need to deploy such campaigns in support of major company initiatives.

Finally, there are 1:1 triggered email campaigns driven by marketing automation to consider. Campaigns such as welcome and onboarding series to new email subscribers or customers, birthday emails, up-sell and cross-sell offers, abandoned cart/browse messages, reactivation or renewal efforts, reminders and alerts all fall into this category. Due to their conditional nature (only sent if a subscriber “trips” a trigger which qualifies them for the campaign), it’s impossible to add them to your calendar on fixed days, but you do want to factor them into the overall volume of messages certain segments or, say, a typical type of subscriber might receive from your company over the course of a year.

Step 5: Identify your automated email campaigns and how often each may touch a subscriber over the course of a year. Set maximums if necessary. For example, will you send an abandoned cart email after every uncompleted purchase, or only up to a certain maximum number of incidences? Over what interval of time (i.e., if the max is five abandoned cart emails, is that in one month? One quarter? Five months? )

By now your calendar should look quite full, if not jam-packed. If you’re using a simple Excel spreadsheet to map it out, apply a different color to each distinct type of email campaign/program. Can you see where there is overlap? Crowding? Gaps? Rest periods? Areas of overlap are key in identifying the campaigns that might need to be suppressed in favor of higher priority efforts should certain subscribers or audience segments qualify for multiple efforts deploying at the same time.

Building your email marketing calendar for the year layer by layer will alleviate the chaos and shot-gun approach too many programs fall victim to due to lack of planning, while identifying opportunities where messages can be added if necessary or new information can be communicated in existing campaigns. So the next time someone is screaming for you to “just send another email”, you’ll be able to point to your calendar and either accommodate them via an existing campaign, find available space, or push back from a strategic, rational place.

]]>http://synchronicitymarketing.com/planning-your-2016-email-program-heres-a-step-by-step-process-for-success/feed/0Holiday Email Marketing Tips for the Non-Retailerhttp://synchronicitymarketing.com/holiday-email-marketing-tips-for-the-non-retailer/
http://synchronicitymarketing.com/holiday-email-marketing-tips-for-the-non-retailer/#respondWed, 25 Nov 2015 23:43:41 +0000http://synchronicitymarketing.com/?p=3642Almost all industries have some seasonality to them. Health and fitness, for example, thrives in January and the warm weather months. Automotive? Late summer, before new model year introductions. Home Services? Spring and fall. Financial Services? Q1 up until April 15, and then again at the end of the calendar year. Travel? Summer and vacation periods. B2B? It depends on your target market’s fiscal year-end. You get the picture.

Depending on exactly what vertical your business is in, you may or may not need a holiday marketing strategy. So first, determine if the holiday season offers real sales opportunities for your business. If it does, and even if you haven’t explored that before, you’ll want a holiday email plan. But if not, at a minimum you should still think about how to acknowledge your subscribers at holiday time.

If yours is a retail or e-tail business revving up your holiday email marketing engines, this advice is not for you (but good luck and Godspeed!)

If on the other hand you’re in the same camp as non-retailers – your email messages running the risk of being stampeded by the crushing annual blow of “buy now” retail promotional messages to consumer inboxes from September through December – read on.

Although some non-retail sectors (travel and hospitality among them) experience an uptick during the holiday season, most can’t count on the lion’s share of their annual revenues to cascade in during Q4. Still, that doesn’t mean we don’t have sales and marketing goals to reach; goals that email carries a lot of weight for.

So how do you break from the retail holiday marketing pack during the busy season and what (if anything holiday-related) type of email should you send?

It Depends On Your Industry

Almost all industries have some seasonality to them. Health and fitness, for example, thrives in January and the warm weather months. Automotive? Late summer, before new model year introductions. Home Services? Spring and fall. Financial Services? Q1 up until April 15, and then again at the end of the calendar year. Travel? Summer and vacation periods. B2B? It depends on your target market’s fiscal year-end. You get the picture.

Depending on exactly what vertical your business is in, you may or may not need a holiday marketing strategy. So first, determine if the holiday season offers real sales opportunities for your business. If it does, and even if you haven’t explored that before, you’ll want a holiday email plan. But if not, at a minimum you should still think about how to acknowledge your subscribers at holiday time.

Tips for Non-Retail Holiday Email Marketing

Maybe you’re Lyft, or AirB2nB, or a major airline/hotel. You know travel increases over the holidays, and you should be capitalizing on this opportunity to drive incremental business. Or you’re in investing and financial services, trying to educate people about market choices and structuring assets when they’re more interested in spending than saving. Still, you know there are legal and business deadlines they should be aware of to be money-smart consumers.

Yet it can seem challenging if not impossible to capture consumer interest when subscribers have their eyes peeled for the deepest discounts or are watching their inboxes for a spur-of-the-moment flash sale from their favorite brand. You just need a little ingenuity, clear expectation management, and a few “swipe-and-deploy” tactics taken from stealthy retail email to compete.

Here are 5 tips to get you started:

1. Make their lives easier. The holiday season is a great time to be of service, alleviate stress, and help people make the most of their days during what for many is the busiest and most chaotic few months of the year. What do you have or do that can help people? Put their minds at ease? Make planning or managing their lives more automated? Make them laugh? Reminders, alerts, apps, and helpful information and education are all beneficial. Funny videos, a free meditation, playlist, or digital greeting they can pass along are also good ideas.

2. Tell a Story. What better time of year than the holidays for a story? The season is rich with history and traditions, so imagineer a new holiday tradition for your brand. This is where great content and actual subscriber input or testimonials can win the day. Imagine if Fidelity or TD Ameritrade did a “best gift I ever used my savings to buy” countdown to Christmas series, featuring actual customer submissions. Or if National Geographic sent a “14 Days of Holiday Dispatches” from around the world. The message frequency need not be daily – it could be weekly or twice a week – but it should create surprise, delight, and most of all, anticipation for the next message in the series, ideally with a big finale or reveal at the end.

3. Plan a limited-time series. The holidays are a perfect period for a limited-time, seasonally themed email series with a clear cadence. Weave a theme into a message sequence with a clear start and end date, and you’ll not only manage subscriber expectations during a period when they are braced for email impact, but also create anticipation, familiarity and continuity. Once you plan your series, consider reducing the frequency of any regular continuity programs (like a weekly bulletin or newsletter) or temporarily suppressing them to accommodate it.

4. Use deadlines to your own – and your subscribers’ – advantage. Holidays are natural deadlines themselves for gift-giving, booking travel, hosting/entertainment and more major purchase categories, so use them to everyone’s advantage. Launching your holiday email as soon as September or October enables extremely early bird deals. You can employ a declining- or accelerating-offer strategy, or better yet (if yours is not an e-commerce-powered business that benefits from lots of promotional email) consider the surprise “pop-up” deal or free give-away. Content reigns supreme here again for many sectors like B2B, Education, and Media as downloadable (cool song, video, printable ornament?) or interactive (game, triva, contest) content engages and makes subscribers feel appreciated.

5. Embrace the Spirit of Giving. If nothing else, this is the time to thank your subscribers and customers and demonstrate your appreciation for them with a greeting and/or a gift. At a minimum, plan a holiday email card, and ideally, tie it to a free give-away, catchy digital media download (again, video, app, song, etc.), useful content, or special offer for the new year exclusive to your list.

If your business has no upside holiday sales potential whatsoever, you could consider dialing back your email frequency during the last month of the year, or re-allocating resources toward an enhanced program with higher frequency at other times of the year. Sometimes, the best way to reward your subscribers is to give them a break. If you depart from your normal frequency during the holidays, announce it so it doesn’t look like your brand has fallen off the face of the earth. Better yet, spin it so your subscribers know you’re decreasing contact in November/December as a benefit to them during a frenetic time, but that you’ll be back in the New Year.

There is one month left until Christmas. What will you be sending to your subscribers?

]]>http://synchronicitymarketing.com/holiday-email-marketing-tips-for-the-non-retailer/feed/0What Can an Email Coach Do For You? (and where to find one)http://synchronicitymarketing.com/what-can-an-email-coach-do-for-you-and-where-to-find-one/
http://synchronicitymarketing.com/what-can-an-email-coach-do-for-you-and-where-to-find-one/#respondMon, 10 Aug 2015 17:08:30 +0000http://synchronicitymarketing.com/?p=3619You’ve probably heard the saying “The devil is in the details” and never is it truer than in email marketing, where small changes or omissions can make big differences in response, revenue, or even which side of the law you’re on.

Agencies and consultants like us specialize in email marketing strategy and advice, but most require longer-term engagements or are best for companies that rely heavily on email as a revenue-producing channel and need continuous, ongoing support.

But what if you just have a few questions? Or are temporarily stuck? Can't find the answers online? Or simply want to pick an expert's brain for a day? The good news is there are solutions to fit an entire spectrum of needs. Read on to learn what to ask your email coach and where to find one (often for free!)

Here’s how to know if an email marketing coach can help you, how to get the most from coaching, and where to find one

You’ve probably heard the saying “The devil is in the details” and never is it truer than in email marketing, where small changes or omissions can make big differences in response, revenue, or even which side of the law you’re on.

Agencies and consultants like us specialize in email marketing strategy and advice, but most require longer-term engagements or are best for companies that rely heavily on email as a revenue-producing channel and need continuous, ongoing support.

But what if you just have a few questions? Or are temporarily stuck? Can’t find the answers online? Or simply want to pick an expert’s brain for a day? The good news is there are solutions to fit an entire spectrum of needs. Read on to learn what to ask your email coach and where to find one (often for free!)

So What Should you Ask an Email Marketing Coach?

Practically anything that has to do with your email marketing program! As a consultant and strategist with over 10 years’ experience designing email programs and performance improvement plans for clients, I’ve had many of theses challenges and questions posed to me:

1) What are the most meaningful metrics I should measure?

2) I am having deliverability/complaint/response issues. What could be causing the problem?

3) Do my transactional (as opposed to marketing) emails need to comply with email laws? To what degree?

4) Should my company expand a single-message campaign (like a Welcome for new subscribers) into a series? And what should it look like if we do?

5) How can I use email automation/triggered campaigns to capture untapped revenue? Am I leaving money on the table by not using email in certain ways?

6) What advice to you have for re-engaging inactive customers or email subscribers? How do I go about designing a program to do this?

7) What are the most cost-effective ways to grow my list? Where do I turn?

8) When is the best time to send email? How do I figure that out by testing or some other means?

9) I’m a B2B company – how do I use email marketing to grow business when a single sale can take months?

10) How can I improve my email creative/template design? Make it mobile-responsive?

(and a biggee . . .)

11) How much email should I send (what’s my optimal frequency and how do I determine it)?

What Can Working With an Email Marketing Coach Do For You?

Create a roadmap for your email message strategy and an editorial calendar for the month, quarter or year, by product, audience or program

Learn what to measure and how to analyze the metrics you may already have

Where to Turn For Help

Here are 5 free or low-cost ways to get email coaching:

1) Schedule a Free Consult. Many agencies and consultants offer a free consult as a way to determine if they can help you and if there’s a fit for working together. Because sometimes a little help is all you need, take advantage of a complimentary session like this. Whether you discover that a single session is plenty or not enough, you’d be crazy not to invest an hour to get free help when you really need it.

2) Visit an Email Coaching Clinic. Many conferences, events, and associations have “free clinics” staffed with experts you can sit down with in person or by phone for assistance. The annual Marketing Sherpa Email Summit in Vegas is known for this, and if you attend you can book coaching clinic sessions all day long with different experts. Or, dial into one of the eec’s new Email Coaching Clinic monthly calls (next one in September) for free advice from vetted industry leaders. Sign up for eec email here to be notified of upcoming clinics.

3) “Dial-A-Coach” by the minute. With on-demand services like Clarity, you can search for a business expert in almost anything, then book and pay only for the time you need (often down to as little as 15 minutes!) These services aren’t free, but are an affordable way to try out several coaches or get quick help when you’re in a pinch.

4) Ask your ESP. Depending on the email services provider (ESP) you currently use to send campaigns, strategic assistance might already be included. It pays to check your contract and find out; if so, use it! But even if professional services cost extra, your client services rep might know enough to assist you with a few quick strategic questions, especially if they’re related to tactical questions you have about proper implementation.

5) Bring the Coach to You. Can’t get to a conference, event or group call? Especially if yours is a large company or you have entire teams a coach can help, consider bringing the coach to you for a private “workshop”, “intensive” or “VIP” day. Most coaches and consultants will happily travel to your location for a dedicated deep-dive into your issues and questions. Many of us also integrate this with facilitated sessions for finally mapping out your strategy, new programs, or annual plan (click to see what we offer). While this is the most expensive of options, it’s also hands-down the biggest bang for your marketing buck and usually costs less than attending a publicly-available training or class, neither of which are customized to your business nor designed to deliver specific advice.

Whether you need a little email marketing help at a time or a day-long bootcamp overhaul for one or many, it’s never been easier to get the advice, support, encouragement, motivation, and guidance an email marketing coach provides. Here’s to seeing you at practice and leaving it all on the field!

Please share your burning email marketing questions, challenges, controversies and confusion in comments below. What would you ask an email coach if you could?

]]>http://synchronicitymarketing.com/what-can-an-email-coach-do-for-you-and-where-to-find-one/feed/0Email List Segmentation: How Much is Too Much? Not Enough?http://synchronicitymarketing.com/email-list-segmentation-how-much-is-too-much-not-enough/
http://synchronicitymarketing.com/email-list-segmentation-how-much-is-too-much-not-enough/#respondMon, 27 Jul 2015 16:24:02 +0000http://propelyourcompany.com/clients/sync/?p=3379You probably know by now that segmentation improves email marketing performance significantly, so if you’re still operating primarily in “batch and blast” mode it’s time to start slicing and dicing your subscriber file.

Marketers who practice list segmentation see better open and click-through rates, fewer unsubscribes and better deliverability. The reasons are obvious: segmentation creates discreet audiences we can laser-target with offers, creative, and information crafted specifically for them, at just the right time. This in turn improves relevancy and response, while decreasing complaints or blocking. Who among us doesn’t want to see more of this kind of email in our inbox: messages that speak to us as if we’re the center of attention, and show up at the perfect moment (or not at all?)
Too Little?
Let me begin by addressing the easy part of the question: how much email list segmentation is not enough?

You probably know by now that segmentation improves email marketing performance significantly, so if you’re still operating primarily in “batch and blast” mode it’s time to start slicing and dicing your subscriber file.

Marketers who practice list segmentation see better open and click-through rates, fewer unsubscribes and better deliverability. The reasons are obvious: segmentation creates discreet audiences we can laser-target with offers, creative, and information crafted specifically for them, at just the right time. This in turn improves relevancy and

response, while decreasing complaints or blocking. Who among us doesn’t want to see more of this kind of email in our inbox: messages that speak to us as if we’re the center of attention, and show up at the perfect moment (or not at all?)

Too Little?

Let me begin by addressing the easy part of the question: how much email list segmentation is not enough?

Zero segmentation for one – so get on with it already! I’d also suggest if you’re not segmenting by at least these key attributes, you’re leaving opportunity on the table:

Customer Life Cycle Stage (new, existing, loyal, inactive) – new customers have different needs – and response propensity – than existing or inactive customers, so recognize these distinct stages with message appropriate to each

Geography – Simple geographic segmentation is necessary and relevant to national and certainly global companies. Accounting for seasonal, weather, cultural and current events differences reflects an understanding of where your customers live and how geography affects their habits, lifestyle and needs. It also allows you to hyper-target distinct populations with super-relevant messaging when a specific event – like a natural disaster, sporting or political event – takes place.

Product /Brand Interests – You’re likely not selling one product at one price point, so recognize your customers by product type, brand interests, or your different lines of business.

Purchase History – Not all buyers spend alike, which is why analyzing them by the tried-and-true RFM (recency, frequency, and monetary amount of purchase) formula can yield insights as to who your most valuable customers are, who needs nurturing, and who deserves your most lucrative offers.

Of course there are infinite additional ways to segment (age, gender, education level, content preferences, lead scores, sales funnel stage, customer personae and more), many of which depend on your business type and marketing goals. Still, if you’re newer to segmentation starting with the four types above will at least get you moving in the right direction.

Too Much?

With segmentation so powerful, 1:1, dynamically customized email is on the rise and easier than ever to implement in most ESP and marketing automation platforms. Sophisticated marketers have embraced email automation to the point where so many of their campaigns are sent based solely on individual behavior or conditions, that they’re facing a new challenge: how much segmentation is too much?

I’m all for email marketing automation – in fact automated campaigns produce somewhere along the lines of 5x the revenue and ROI of broadcast email – so much so that these

highly-targeted “triggered” emails (like cart abandonment, welcome and onboarding campaigns, up-sell offers, etc.) should be part of most if not all programs. The downside? You’re often sending to an audience of one or very few people, which can leave most of your email subscriber base untouched if you haven’t built a diverse and multi-layered messaging mix.

Consider that you might be over-segmenting if:

You have no broadcast email campaign in your program such as a newsletter, monthly bulletin, weekly special, featured news item, monthly webinar or content, etc. Yes, broadcast campaigns have their place in your overall mix: they provide continuity, credibility and a predictably recurring touch-point for your entire list. You want this because not every subscriber will be equally engaged nor engaged to the point of qualifying for automated email.

You’re not conducting segmentation or engagement analysis to mine for high-value customer segments and buyer correlations. Which subscribers open and click on your email the most? Who are your frequent buyers? Have you searched for correlations between product purchases and/or content interests across categories?Mine your data for the propensity and interest of customers who purchase one thing to also need a related product or service. Do women who buy a dress almost always return to purchase an accessory like jewelry or a handbag to go with it? Do guests in your resort hotel usually need to book local excursions and activities – or ground transportation to and from the airport? Do first-time diners come back within the next 30 days to eat in your restaurant again – or recommend it to friends? Searching for behavioral correlations like these can yield opportunities not only for automated 1:1 cross-sell, up-sell and follow-on offers, but also for campaigns segmented to a group of like customers based on purchase history.

All of your email campaigns are automated based on individual behavior. Yes, you want as many 1:1 automated campaigns as possible relevant to your business, but these are by far not the only email campaigns you should be sending.

You’re seeing declining open and click-through rates across your list. Again, likely an indication that you’re not engaging often enough with large swaths of subscribers to keep them interested.

Optimize Targeting with a Diverse Messaging Strategy

Optimal segmentation is both art and science and is achieved by creating a multi-layered email campaign strategy that ranges from broad to specific and includes a mix of general, promotional, categorical, segment-specific, and individually-triggered messages. True, the most sophisticated (and successful) email programs can become complex due to the risk of high frequency and/or overlapping campaigns for certain subscribers, which is where suppression and campaign prioritization rules can help. But once we accept that balance – neither too general nor too specific a level of segmentation – is key, and that subscriber engagement is our priority, we’re fully harnessing the power of email.

A huge part of what we do at Synchronicity Marketing is developing multi-faceted email strategies and messaging programs for our clients. Need help creating yours? Schedule a free consult

]]>http://synchronicitymarketing.com/email-list-segmentation-how-much-is-too-much-not-enough/feed/0Career in Email? Here’s How to Excelhttp://synchronicitymarketing.com/career-in-email-heres-how-to-excel/
http://synchronicitymarketing.com/career-in-email-heres-how-to-excel/#respondMon, 18 May 2015 00:02:12 +0000http://propelyourcompany.com/clients/sync/?p=2541After fifteen years in email marketing, I recently joined the board of the Email Experience Council (EEC) - the industry association for legitimate email marketing and the nexus of entrepreneurs, executives and experts leading the email marketing world itself.

Shortly before the EEC's annual Email Evolution Conference earlier this month, the organization sat down with me for a discussion about careers in email marketing. We covered what up-and-coming professionals in email, as well as CMOs and senior execs responsible for the channel, need to know and develop in the way of talent, skills and mindset. That interview follows.

If you're currently cultivating or considering a career involving email marketing, read on to learn about the great growth opportunities that await.

]]>After fifteen years in email marketing, I recently joined the board of the Email Experience Council (EEC) – the industry association for legitimate email marketing and the nexus of entrepreneurs, executives and experts leading the email marketing world itself.

Shortly before the EEC’s annual Email Evolution Conferenceearlier this month, the organization sat down with me for a discussion about careers in email marketing. We covered what up-and-coming professionals in email, as well as CMOs and senior execs responsible for the channel, need to know and develop in the way of talent, skills and mindset. That interview follows.

If you’re currently cultivating or considering a career involving email marketing, read on to learn about the great growth opportunities that await.

1. What do you think are the most valuable skills for early- and mid-career marketers to develop today?

The ability to think about the big picture is super important, especially for people early in a career. They are often in a role where they have some very specific tasks – and they are not encouraged to think beyond what they’re supposed to do. It’s important for them to develop that way of thinking early, and not to be afraid to ask questions and get involved in strategy, because that’s what’s going to open doors.

People in mid-career need to think about what they want to branch and evolve into next. Email people have a unique blend of creative and analytical prowess. They need to think about which avenue they want to develop. To evolve vertically in an organization, they are going to have to think more broadly – and take on a broader array of responsibility.

2. What talent gaps have you observed in the marketing field over the past year? What can CMOs and executives within the supplier/vendor/provider community do to bridge these gaps in their companies in the year ahead?

The biggest talent gaps are in two areas:

Marketing analytics. This is the ability to not just think analytically but to analyze data. There are more and more data available to us as we use more marketing channels — and it’s available to us faster. So we need people with more statistical ability, who actually have that academic background. They are advanced Excel users, or they have the ability to use other analytical software and tools that are out there, and can take raw data and numbers and extract information out of it.

Tech-savvy prowess/capability. Not everyone who ends up in a role that has something to do with digital or online marketing actually develops programming skills or beyond-the-basics computer science skills. Academically, this will need to be taught more in schools. We will see a day when everyone needs to write HTML or at least know their way around this as a tech language. This is not a talent gap that is unique to an age group – because all generations and age groups will have their own limits and barriers.

What can CMO’s and executives do? They need to cross-pollinate skill sets between people in different functional areas of an organization. It’s not going to be acceptable for sales people not to know about marketing – and marketing needs to know about sales. IT needs to know about marketing and marketers will need some IT skills. It’s going to take senior-level vision to get people out of those silos.

3. What did you observe in this year’s EEC award winners that stood out? Are there clues in their careers and approaches that can help other emerging marketing talent quickly advance their effectiveness?

Both winners (Justine Jordan and Alessandra Souers) have both a left and right brain mind set– a balance of analytical and creative ability – art and science. Both are completely willing and eager candidates for breaking with convention and thinking out of the box. They are not afraid to break rules. And both winners’ companies have a nimble culture that allows the freedom and flexibility to thrive with a more blended mindset for how to get things done. It’s a culture that allows people to be unconventional and not worried about conforming to a set of corporate rules.

It’s great – two winners who are women and young, who can just run at a pace as fast as allowed, because there is no limit to what they can get done.

4. What trends have you observed developing over the past two years regarding the emergence of women in the email marketing space?

I’ve been teaching email marketing trainings, workshops and seminars for fifteen years for a variety of trade associations and professional education organizations such as the DMA, ANA, OMI and MarketingProfs. In the last 5-7 years, I’ve noticed a shift in the seminars I teach to being almost exclusively women. In the early days it was skewing much more male.

It’s encouraging to see more women in the more technical channels of marketing — the digital channels and email channels – and being in roles where they can develop both left brain and right brain skills. They are coming in fairly young – and realizing that they can make a significant impact – if they are in an organization where email can directly drive revenue.

I think it bodes well. It’s a good entry point for women in marketing – and for women who want to take their careers in a more technical direction—and having the mindset and the marketing background can only help them.

5. What specific opportunities does the EEC Conference offer to help early-, mid- and senior-career marketers advance their skills and careers?

The EEC Email Evolution Conference is great for young and mid-career marketers. Anyone who’s new to the world of email or email as a marketing channel will be at an event where they will have access to hands-on educational info. Beyond that, they are going to get acquainted with the provider landscape, and there is going to be fantastic networking. They are going to meet the thought-leaders of the industry, but they are also going to meet their peers who are a little further down the road who can lend a guiding hand.

It’s also great for those in mid-career who want to hear success stories, case studies, and desire peer collaboration. Case studies and real-world challenges, innovations and successes are some of the best things about the conference. They give [people in mid-career] the chance to un-trench from their own company/brand and see how their peers in different types of companies are making email work contribute to sales, revenue and growth.

For senior executives, it’s a fantastic networking and relationship-building event. While they may not need the same educational or tactical skills that younger marketers need, they do need the connections. The event is an opportunity to see what capabilities and innovations are new in the space — and also what’s changing from a legal and compliance standpoint.

I’m biased because I’ve been in email for 15 years, most of the lifespan of the industry, and during that time have come to know the email marketing arena as a small, wonderful, close-knit world. There is a non-competitive attitude – a mindset that we all just want the channel to work better. It’s important and precious, and says a lot about the people that have built lasting careers in this space, (like my fellow EEC board members).

The EEC’s Email Evolution Conference helps to strengthen this. One of the intentions of those of us planning of the conference is to bring industry newcomers fully into the fold and make them feel as welcome for as long as they want to stay. This year, I’m confident we’ll succeed!

The EEC is a wholly-owned council of the Direct Marketing Association (DMA). This post originally appeared in a similar format here.

]]>http://synchronicitymarketing.com/career-in-email-heres-how-to-excel/feed/0Insights & Wisdom from the 2015 Email Evolution Conferencehttp://synchronicitymarketing.com/insights-wisdom-from-the-2015-email-evolution-conference/
http://synchronicitymarketing.com/insights-wisdom-from-the-2015-email-evolution-conference/#respondTue, 10 Feb 2015 17:00:35 +0000http://synchronicitymarketing.com/?p=3612Earlier this month I had the pleasure of joining many of my fellow email industry colleagues in Miami at the Email Evolution Conference. Hosted annually by the Direct Marketing Association’s Email Experience Council (eec), the event kicks off the email conference year by bringing brands, advocates, vendors and thought leaders together under the south Florida sun to discuss, debate and share innovations and pressing issues central to email marketing.

Here without further ado are key insights, wisdom and lessons learned (including my own) from this year’s event:

Earlier this month I had the pleasure of joining many of my fellow email industry colleagues in Miami at the Email Evolution Conference. Hosted annually by the Direct Marketing Association’s Email Experience Council (eec), the event kicks off the email conference year by bringing brands, advocates, vendors and thought leaders together under the south Florida sun to discuss, debate and share innovations and pressing issues central to email marketing.

Here without further ado are key insights, wisdom and lessons learned (including my own) from this year’s event:

Lesson: All Things Old Are New Again

Email Evolution 2015 was a terrific conference – my first since re-entering the email industry last year. In dozens of conversations as well as the day two keynote and our own breakout session, I was delighted to hear that the professionals in this industry have stayed true to why we leverage email for driving customer engagement: because it offers the highest value channel for treating different customers/subscribers/members/ stakeholders differently. Personalization may be an old topic, but with today’s technology and access to data we have a chance to actually revolutionize how we talk to each other using email!

There were two stand-out sessions for me at this year’s event: 1) the first and one of the most talked about was the closing keynote panel on deliverability and inbox engagement, featuring experts from four major ISPs: AOL, Google, Microsoft and Comcast. I had seen a similar panel – including most if not all of the same panelists –

at Message System’s user event in San Diego last November. Having been in email marketing for nineteen years I’ve seen and heard a lot of things, but hearing directly from the ISPs about how to deliver to the Inbox held my attention closely. I’m sure that these kinds of discussions are standard at events like MAWG, but rare on the marketing circuit until now.

The other stand out for me was 2) Matt Caldwell’s session on Mobile-Ready Email. While Matt provided current mobile email statistics and emerging mobile patterns, what I hope that attendees to his session didn’t miss was the importance of structure and procedure outside of layout and code. It’s that structure and those procedures – that apply to more than design and coding – that maintain consistency of production, reduce the possibility of mistakes, and increase the overall production abilities of those involved. While Matt’s session was focused on Mobile-Ready Email, I walked away with much more than how to code mobile-ready email.

It’s only taken about 20 years, but if this keeps up I think it’s safe to say that our industry is finally growing up rather than just growing old.

My biggest takeaway was the networking. It was great to meet some of the thought leaders of the industry who I have been following for years via OI, blogs, Twitter, etc.

In terms of content, there was one piece of information that came out of the deliverability panel, which surprised me. For years, I have heard and read about the importance of subject line copy in relation to SPAM scores and inbox placement. The four representatives from the ISPs which host most consumer email accounts unanimously said that this is not the case. The only way that the subject line copy could negatively impact a sender’s inbox placement is if the recipient interprets the email as SPAM based on the subject line copy and flags it accordingly.

I will not be shouting “Free” in all caps followed by exclamation points in my subject lines any time soon, but I will no longer put my subject lines under as much scrutiny either.

Lesson: Email Engagement Means Different Things to ISPs and Email Marketers (aka opens and clicks don’t affect deliverability as much as we thought!)

Nothing the closing panel said about deliverability was anything that 99% of brands and professionals in the room didn’t know already and aren’t already being proactive about doing right. In fact when I put it to the panel that all of us in the in the room (and members of the Only Influencers) list are senders of the 5% of wanted email and not the “crap” that constitutes 95% of email hitting ISP in-bound servers, they concurred.

I was however very encouraged to hear them agree with some of my long held views. This article on the subject is one I wrote way back in 2010 stating that there was no evidence ISP’s used clicks to measure engagement: http://bit.ly/1zk7sFn.

In summary we had confirmation that:

The ISPs do not use clicks as a measure of engagement and user engagement within your email marketing messages will not affect your overall reputation

If you remove people who do not open or click you are leaving money on the table

What I found encouraging about the session is that it removed one of the biggest reasons given by some people to justify removing inactives from your list – a practice that could be costing the industry millions in revenue.

Although clicks are not one, there are a number of engagement actions the ISPs track that do affect reputation and individual delivery, including some of the following:

OPENS are good

DELETE without OPEN is pretty bad

FILING an email is good

REPLYING to an email is very good

Adding to the ADDRESS BOOK is good

Moving from JUNK to INBOX is very good

Moving from INBOX to JUNK is obviously bad

The SPAM button is also obviously pretty bad

Gmail also stated that there’s a higher probability that someone will click the spam button if your email is in the “inbox tab”, and less likely if it’s in the “promotions tab”. The message was: don’t fight the tabs, they’re a good thing.

My biggest lesson was that though we’re still in the infancy, attribution is becoming an increasingly important challenge for email marketers. The increasing number of touch-points and communications channels means increasing budget competition and attribution is the key to determining where to best spend your marketing dollars.

Lesson: Email Address Validity and Integrity Is Fundamental to Program Success

At the conference attendees learned about all sorts of cool stuff that can be done with email, e.g. inserting video, optimizing for mobile, dynamically changing images, sending at the precise time each individual user is most likely to engage, etc.

But what struck me most is that the entire success of any these efforts is completely gated by the quality of the actual email address. No amount of money invested in whiz-bang creative or deployment optimization will overcome the problems of an undeliverable or inaccurate address. Thus it is more important than ever before for marketers to focus on the fundamentals of acquiring and maintaining the best possible email addresses of their customers and prospects.

Lesson: Ask and You Shall Receive . . . and in turn Deliver More Value

Don’t underestimate your customers’ willingness to provide data in exchange for value. When it comes to personalization and targeting, the more accurate and up-to-date your data is, the better – but many brands are hesitant to ask for it. The worry is that consumers will be put off by the request, but that’s only if they don’t understand how they would benefit by providing it. If you are clear about how the data will be used to provide them value in terms of experience, service, knowledge, etc., many consumers are happy to oblige. Just make sure that you’re prepared to deliver on whatever you promise to provide in return. You are building trust, so your actions will either build or damage this invaluable commodity.

For the first time since the eec began its awards program, this year’s winners were both women. Alessandra Souers of JibJab won the Email Marketer of the Year award, while Justine Jordan of Litmus took home the Email Thought Leader of the Year Award.

In the fifteen years I’ve been in email marketing teaching workshops and seminars, I’ve seen a continuous increase in the number of women in email jobs and leadership roles, with a distinct spike especially in the last five to seven years. These days, the seminars and workshops I deliver for associations like the DMA, ANA, MarketingProfs and others are almost exclusively female.

It’s encouraging to see more women in the technical/digital marketing channels beginning or furthering their careers in roles where they can develop both left-brain and right-brain skills – applying both the “art” and “science” of marketing to email. They are coming in fairly young – and realizing that they can make a significant impact – if they are in an organization where email directly contributes to revenue, as it does for JibJab.

There is no shortage, nor does there appear any type of decline, in the variety and number of email service providers (ESPs). Realistically, there are 350 or so in the space, and there was strong representation of that group in Miami.

]]>http://synchronicitymarketing.com/insights-wisdom-from-the-2015-email-evolution-conference/feed/0Game-Changing Insights for Your 2015 Email Marketinghttp://synchronicitymarketing.com/game-changing-insights-for-your-2015-email-marketing/
http://synchronicitymarketing.com/game-changing-insights-for-your-2015-email-marketing/#respondThu, 18 Dec 2014 01:18:50 +0000http://propelyourcompany.com/clients/sync/?p=2512Inspiration from the 2015 Email “To-Do” Lists of Leading Brands I’m just back from the MediaPost Email Insider’s Summit at Deer Valley in Utah ski country. Boasting record attendance and the active participation of big brands, the event is always a nexus for email marketing growth, expansion and innovation ideas. With attendees from Wendy’s, Office […]

I’m just back from the MediaPost Email Insider’s Summit at Deer Valley in Utah ski country. Boasting record attendance and the active participation of big brands, the event is always a nexus for email marketing growth, expansion and innovation ideas. With attendees from Wendy’s, Office Depot, Amazon, Bank of the West, Angie’s List, American Airlines and countless other marquee brands, this time didn’t disappoint. In short: everyone’s excited (and in some cases a little daunted by) the email marketing goals they aim to accomplish in the coming year.

Here’s what’s on the 2015 “to-do” list of top marketers and should be on yours as well:

1) Expand Audience Reach Beyond Your Own List

Sure, every company wants to grow its email marketing list, but many are finally waking up to why. The value of the email address as a contact point has been sorely under-recognized, but marketers everywhere are now at last seeing it for the gold it is for individualized, private, detailed, (even complex) communication. The struggle for most is not to grow their email reach (or what I refer to as “coverage”) of customers, but many also are investing aggressively in new customer acquisition with the email address THE key piece of data gathered right from the start.

In addition, the ability to reach new and existing subscriber audiences via display ads served in publisher email enables not only list growth, but powerful prospect and customer re-targeting, empowering frequency and optimization plays for savvy marketers.

Ask yourself: What are you doing to make it easy (if not effortless and desirable) for current customers who haven’t already done so to give you email addresses? Where, and how – other than your own email programs – are you then repeatedly making positive impressions upon them? Don’t under-estimate the power of making multiple impressions via email – both via your own lis and that of companies who allow outside advertisers – and even other channels like web and mobile display advertising.

2) Amplify Subscriber Data Intelligence

Getting a new email subscriber is great, but too many marketers take the “I don’t want to bother you” stance in both their online and offline sign-up efforts by asking ONLY for an email address without related data. Expanding opt-in/join forms to include only a few additional fields like first name, last name and ZIP code opens up endless possibilities for matching subscribers to marketing databases rich in consumer data and behavioral intelligence.

When paired with name and geography, email addresses can be appended with demographic data (such as age and income) household data (such as cultural and spending data) and psychographic or behavioral profiles and models (which predict spending, life stage, lifestyle and product propensities). As a career-long database marketing professional, I can tell you it’s crazy not to build your email opt-in strategy with insightful data gathering in mind right from the start, because trying to go after that rich information later with only an email address will surely be in exercise in frustration.

Smart marketers “get” this and are adjusting data gathering practices accordingly for 2015.

3) Expand Use of Marketing Automation and Behaviorally-Triggered Campaigns

No surprises here – everyone who isn’t already tracking online site visit, browsing and buying behavior and connecting it to email subscribers for targeted, 1:1 dialog programs is heading that way in 2015.

Thanks to ever-expanding marketing automation capabilities both on multi-channel platforms and traditional ESPs alike, we’re likely to see greater and greater volumes of email sent based on specific interaction points with customers and prospects. More brands are sensing and responding to individual customer behavior and increasingly customizing offers and content to the individual. The era of “one size fits all” broadcast email is rapidly crashing to a close.

With this approach comes the need to track, monitor and store behavior, then respond in relevant ways, all of which has implications for overall email message frequency. Savvy marketers are using rules-based technology, prioritization and frequency controls to make sure these highly individualized, targeted messages take precedence over generalized broadcast programs.

4) Modernize, Mobilize and Streamline Creative Templates

I love hearing case studies like the one presented by Kiva.org that illustrate how less can be more in email design. Not only are brands optimizing email templates for mobile viewing and accessibility through the use of mobile-friendly (if not fully responsive) design, they are also creating streamlined, simplified email templates which support “at a glance” osmosis of message content and calls to action.

Hand-in-hand with this approach, I believe, is that marketers are realizing they don’t have to “fire all of their guns at once” with lengthier packed messages, but instead can drip useful information out over a series campaign or divide a welcome/onboarding campaign (for example) into multiple, easily-digestible steps.

5) Test a (hell of a) LOT More

Finally, 2015 will be the year for greater experimentation into email response optimization via testing. Those who haven’t ventured into this arena are finally starting, so if that’s you, don’t be shy about creating at least some simple A/B split tests. Others who are more experienced are looking at multivariate testing, and expanding focus beyond testing in email to landing page optimization as well. There’s no excuse anymore not to learn what resonates best with subscribers and makes your efforts worthwhile and justifiable as well.

As they plan for the coming year, leading brands are realizing the incredible untapped power of the channel and laying the groundwork for going from “good” to “great”. So if you haven’t invested much time and energy in planning your email and related digital programs for 2015, here’s hoping this inspires you to re-charge and re-focus in January. And if you need a little help, let me know.